Why Germany ? It ’ s still very much the heart of European manufacturing in the sectors we operate in . That means in some cases you need to put your event where the majority of the customers will be or are prepared to travel to . They also like to do business , they want to support your events , help make them successful , grow them and hopefully retain them for the future . |
How extensively did you research the markets there ? Partly it is historic , our markets are already very well established in Europe so it ’ s an obvious location , however you have to keep on top of market changes . For example , there has been a considerable move to lower priced manufacturing to some of the eastern European areas so we carried out a lot of research about the potential to run events in those areas . However the decision makers are still located in the Central |
European regions and that ’ s our target audience . We could gain greater footfall from a lower level of decision maker but that ’ s not what our customers really want . Our challenge is often to attract those top visitors from the other regions to those central European locations such as Germany . |
How do you work with the venue ? As always it varies depending on the event and the market sector we are in . The big difference is that so many of the German Messes run their own events so there is a certain amount of regional competition . On the plus side , they are totally committed to making their events work because they have a direct commercial interest . On the down side , if the other venues see a level of success they will often look to compete or find a niche within the established events to exploit themselves . As we are also media owners , we |
often bring a lot of content in terms of conferences , seminars , networking events and market expertise , as well as marketing and promotional routes to market . The venues bring support from the city councils , regional agencies and a viable cost base plus they are very good at gaining support from German industry associations and other organisations .
What , if any , are the cultural differences you ’ ve encountered ? Not as many as you might find in other areas . They are straight-talking , happy to say no , which some might see initially as a little abrasive but it saves a lot of time and wasted effort . They can be a little protective at times , for example if someone in their organisation screws up it can be difficult getting things sorted out and moving forward again . They also see the bigger picture and work on a global scale . They
|
find where the business opportunities are in the world and they go and find partners to exploit that opportunity . It ’ s very much our business ethos so we tend to understand each other .
What do you wish you ’ d known beforehand ? I love the people , they ’ re always professional and great fun , have a good sense of humour and are very welcoming . On the down side , some of the airlines are that fly between the UK and certain Germany cities are bad . I can ’ t tell you how much time I ’ ve wasted at airports , however the beer , sausages and pork knuckle go some way to making it bearable . One word of warning , don ’ t accept German efficiency as guaranteed . In particular when it comes to stand building , regulations and on-site health and safety . As the organiser , it ’ s your name above the door so make sure they meet your standards . ■■■
|